San Francisco Giants Injury Updates: Cain, Pence

The San Francisco Giants have started off the 2015 season with two key players injured: Hunter Pence and Matt Cain. The Giants have gone 7-11 without them so far, which ranks last in the National League West. They are 3-1 in their last four games though.

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Pence was hit by a pitch early in Spring Training, which left him with a broken left forearm. He was initially projected to be out six to eight weeks, with a possible return at the end of April or May. Although Bruce Bochy recently told local media members that Pence would not be back by May 1st, Pence has made great progress in the last few days.

Over the last week or so, Pence has been running, throwing, and started swinging a whiffle bat, then a fungo bat, and then, on this past Thursday, his own wooden bat. On Friday, Pence then hit soft toss pitches in the batting cage at Coors Field. These are all great signs that Pence is progressing well and could start his rehab assignment very soon, possibly during the Giants’ next homestand, which starts this upcoming Friday.

Here’s what Bochy had to say about Pence’s progress, according to Alex Pavlovic of Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area:

"“He was hitting off a tee, going to right (field), pulling the ball, hitting soft toss,” he said. “It was really amazing. He had incredible bat control today. He was going toward (the right-center portion of the cage) and every ball was to the same spot. It was pretty impressive.”"

As for Cain, he is about the hit a recovery milestone as well. If all goes according to plan, Cain is set to play catch on Tuesday for the first time since going on the DL back in early April with his flexor strain. Cain has been running sprints to stay in shape, but playing catch is the first step in the process to return to the mound.

Cain will also have to get some rehab starts under his belt before he can come off the DL, but he first has to play catch and practice throwing off a mound. Cain still has a long way to go, but this is a good sign for Giants fans that he’s on the road to recovery.

Here’s what Bochy had to say about Cain’s progress and if we’ll ever see the old Cain again, as Pavlovic reported in the same article as the Pence one:

"“My hope is that we’re going to see the Matt Cain that we know,” Bochy said. “It’s going to be important for us to maybe slow-play this a little so we don’t have another setback. He showed (good) signs before the last setback. I think we have a good chance of seeing the Matt Cain we know.”"

And here’s what Cain said about his recovery, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"“I’m more anxious and excited about it because I know how my body feels,” Cain said Friday. “My shoulder feels good. My elbow has been feeling really good. Maybe this kind of happened on purpose where it needed some extra time to really get to 100 percent. That’s the way I’m looking at it, and the trainers.”…“It’s been tough, because you see the team going through some tough times, so you definitely want to help and be a part of that,” he said."

The Giants could use some more stability in the starting rotation, and Cain’s return would certainly help in that department. In addition, they could also really use Pence’s leadership, energy, and his bat in the middle of the lineup.

Next: Is Matt Duffy Making Joaquin Arias Expendable?

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